During the corona pandemic, the US infectiologist Fauci is not only fighting the virus, but also the populism of then President Trump. The 81-year-old is now announcing his retirement. However, he does not want to retire just yet.
US President Joe Biden’s top corona advisor, Anthony Fauci, has announced his retirement for December. Fauci said he would step down as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and as chief medical adviser to the president. He will open “the next chapter of his career”, added the 81-year-old. “I’m not retiring.” He did not give any more specific information.
Biden expressed his “deepest gratitude” to Fauci in a White House statement. Thanks to Fauci’s contribution to public health, “lives have been saved here in the United States and around the world,” the president said. “I know that no matter what he does next, the American people and the world at large will continue to benefit from Dr. Fauci’s expertise.”
Fauci actually stated in July that he wanted to give up his position at the end of Biden’s presidency in January 2025. After entering the White House in January 2021, Biden made Fauci his “senior medical adviser” in the fight against the corona pandemic. The physician and researcher, who has been NIAID director for 38 years, was a member of the government’s corona crisis team under Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump.
With his great expertise and his unvarnished assessments of the pandemic, Fauci gained great public recognition and became a veritable cult figure. At the same time, he repeatedly drew Trump’s displeasure, who downplayed the danger posed by the corona virus for a long time. Fauci also faced hostility from right-wing circles and had to be placed under police protection. In part because he defied Trump, Fauci became America’s face in the fight against the pandemic.
The renowned scientist has headed the National Institute for Infectious Diseases for 38 years and worked under a total of seven US Presidents. He has been considered one of the pre-eminent infectious disease experts in the United States for decades.
